


Humanity's Unconscious Wish

by tattoosanta



Series: Alternate Universes [18]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4
Genre: Forced Fighting, M/M, revival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2018-12-05 12:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11577864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tattoosanta/pseuds/tattoosanta
Summary: Yu found himself alone at the top of the tower right before his showdown with Sho. Confused, he decides to look deeper into things to see what was going on. What he finds both astounds and terrifies him.





	1. Alone on the Roof

**Author's Note:**

> So this isn't the representing Personas AU I was planning on working on, but I finished Story: P4 of Arena Ultimax and had a really evil idea that some people *cough HanaHimus cough* hate me for.  
> This is going to be relatively short, only like 5 chapters. In between each He Doesn't Believe in Psychics chapter, I'll update this one! :D

Yu stood at the top of the tower alone, his sword hanging limply in his hand. One moment, he had been standing in front of Sho ready for a fight, and the next… well, he couldn’t quite figure that part out yet. He’d probably stood there for a few minutes trying to work it out in his head at that point, but every time he played the events back in his mind, he just got more frustrated. 

He shook his head and closed his eyes. “Now isn’t the time for that…” He had to figure out what to do now. As far as he knew, the world was still going to end soon, and his friends were still in trouble. The more he just stood there like an idiot, the closer they all got to an untimely demise. 

“Dammit…!” He smacked his cheeks and frowned down at his shoes.  _ If Mitsuru were here, she’d know what to do…  _

He sighed. No, now wasn’t the time to wish Mitsuru and her friends were there to help…! He had been appointed leader of the Investigation Team for a reason, right? His friends had seen something in him that made them trust him… 

“That’s right… I’m doing this to protect my friends.” Yu closed his eyes finally and took a deep breath. He had a purpose to fulfill, and even if it was the last thing he did he would fulfill it. “I’ll figure this out if it’s the last thing I do!” 

He bent over and picked up his accidentally discarded sword to sheath it, then turned around and looked out as far as the red fog would let him. It wasn’t far, if he was being honest with himself. All he could see was the edge of the pillars surrounding the platform he was standing on and the blood-red moon above him. It seemed huge; just hanging over him like an ominous spotlight. 

He lifted his head and frowned up at the celestial body above him, then shielded his eyes against the scarlet-tinted light. He couldn’t remember the moon ever being so bright normally… Maybe this was an effect of the fog…? 

He was, quite literally, jolted out of his thoughts by a sudden movement in the tower. Was it getting shorter…? No, definitely not. Taller, then… But how much higher could this damn tower climb? 

He hadn’t realized it, but he’d closed his eyes at some point; either against the too-bright moonlight or the movement of the tower, he wasn’t sure which. It didn’t really matter, though, because he was suddenly much more interested in what was now in front of him. 

The first thing that caught his eye was a giant cross connected to an even bigger set of doors. If the size didn’t make it look heavy, the fact it seemed to be entirely gold sure did. Yu was getting vertigo just looking at it… 

He shook his head and closed his eyes to stabilize himself again. “...What is that thing?” And why did it show up on the top of this tower all of a sudden? All of this had to be connected, there was no way this was pure coincidence. 

“Maybe I should try to open it…” He was no detective, but he was pretty sure that’s what doors were usually for. This one looked important, anyway, so maybe it was placed in front of him for that reason? He wasn’t so great at the whole figuring out the details from the big picture thing… 

Regardless, he took a step forward to see what he could do about the whole door situation. It seemed like the cross was blocking where the doors were supposed to swing open, and there was no way in hell Yu was strong enough to move that cross out of the way. Besides, it looked like it was planted pretty firmly. 

He sighed. “This is getting me nowhere.” Suddenly, he wished he had Naoto there with him to help him figure things out. She would probably know what to do, anyway. Maybe he just had to emulate her way of going about things…! 

“Let me see…” He decided to start as far away from the strange objects as possible, and he walked to the other end of the rooftop. “So the only thing about the roof that’s changed is the fact I’m alone, there’s a set of doors and a cross here, and now I’m higher up…” Was there anything else he should be looking at? 

He didn’t know why, but he felt the actual surface of the roof might give him some clues. He scoured the space in front of him, only to get confused by the obscure patterns. Turning back toward the doors, he started looking again… 

“Ah-ha!” There was something right in front of the cross! How he hadn’t noticed it before, he had no idea, but he saw it now! Maybe it was something helpful, like… a map, or something. Okay, so maybe not a map, but something helpful nonetheless. 

He rushed forward, unable to keep the excitement off his face. Man, if only his friends were there… Naoto would have already figured it out, but that wouldn’t make things any less interesting! Actually, it would’ve been better, because he wouldn’t have spent so long staring at everything and wondering what the hell he was supposed to glean from it all. 

He slowed as he approached the lump on the tile and let out a short breath. Maybe rushing headfirst toward this unknown object wasn’t the best idea… He couldn’t exactly heal himself if he got seriously injured, after all. 

“Okay, Yu, calm down… approach this calmly so you don’t get yourself killed…” He took a deep breath and rested one hand on the hilt of his sword. He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to need it, but it was always better safe than sorry, right? 

He found himself biting his lip as he got closer to the lump on the tile. Now that he could see it a little more clearly, it looked… human. If he didn’t know better, he would say it  _ was  _ human, and that it was breathing. There was an odd aura surrounding it, and he couldn’t help but feel a little bit anxious as he approached. 

“There’s… there’s no way this is a human, right?” He was pretty sure all the people in Inaba were transmogrified, anyway… So this was either a terribly dirty trick played by Sho, or it really was a living, breathing human. 

His suppressed suspicions were confirmed as he knelt to get a better look at the object. Laying in front of him like a discarded ragdoll was a young man who couldn’t have been older than nineteen. He was pale and thin, with deep blue hair that covered his face. Yu guessed he was sleeping, as his eyes were closed; but his breathing was ragged. 

“Who are you…?” He murmured to himself as his eyebrows knit together and he shook his head. Why was he so close to this mysterious cross, and what did he have to do with everything? Question after question swam through Yu’s mind as he stared down at the sleeping boy in front of him. 

_ He might have some answers for me, though…  _

Instinctively, he reached out to attempt to wake this strange boy up. He put a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him a few times. “Hey… now isn’t the time to be sleeping…” 

He startled backward when he looked down at the boy’s face again and realized his eyes were open.  _ How long had he been staring at me…?  _ Without thinking, he leaned forward again and gently put a hand on his shoulder. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t get any words out. The moment his hand touched the other boy’s shoulder, the boy shrunk back and screamed. 

 


	2. Broken Seal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, I wrote a thing!   
> Work has been really busy lately, and on top of that I now have a back injury. :D Yaaaay!   
> I'm going to try and get the next chapter of He Doesn't Believe in Psychics out ASAP, but forgive me if it takes a little while ^^;   
> Hopefully I'll have it out by Wednesday or Thursday! Friday at the latest <3 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter, and thanks for reading!   
> Comments, Kudos, and Bookmarks are always welcomed and appreciated! :D

Yu took a while to recover from the sudden scare of the man screaming, and meanwhile the stranger had gotten up. Well… he kind of...awkwardly propped himself up against the cross? Either way, he was no longer on the ground. 

When he finally regained his senses, he was face-to-face with the stranger. He almost freaked out again, but when the guy was fully awake, he was a lot less scary looking. 

“Um…” He cleared his throat and looked off to the side, “Are… are you alright, sir?” Was that the right way to address this guy? He looked like he was only a few years older than himself, anyway. Well, actually, a good look at his face made him look almost ancient, but… 

The stranger sighed shakily and closed his eyes. “...Physically, no, I’m not alright.” Well, that was that, then. Apparently, this man was pretty straightforward. It was either all or nothing, then? Who knew… 

“Oh, um… do you want me to help you up?” He bit his lip and stood up after a while. He hadn’t introduced himself yet, but he couldn’t really figure out how to bring that up at the moment. Everything was still really surreal… 

The stranger shook his head and slowly stood up. Yu noticed, as he pushed himself off the ground, that he was shaking pretty hard. He had said he wasn’t exactly physically alright, but… he actually looked pretty terrible. 

“...You’re staring at me.” He frowned and coughed weakly, then took a shaky breath and closed his eyes. At least he could stand on his own…? So maybe he wasn’t as weak as Yu had originally thought he was. 

“Huh?! Oh, I’m sorry.” Yu shook his head and laughed nervously. “I was just concerned about you, that’s all. Um! ...My name is Narukami Yu. I wanted to introduce myself earlier, but I couldn’t find the right time to do so.” He wasn’t sure if now was the time for that, either… 

“Oh.” The stranger coughed again and closed his eyes for a moment. “My name is Arisato Minato. Good to meet you.” Well, as good as it could get. He was pretty sure this wasn’t exactly Yu’s ideal situation. 

Yu smiled in relief and nodded. “Yeah, you too.” Now that he had learned Minato’s name, he was a lot more comfortable. He also felt strangely connected to him, even though they’d never met before.  _ How strange… I wonder if he feels this too.  _

Minato had completely checked out by that point, and was instead investigating the area around them. Despite looking like a malnourished porcelain doll, he held himself pretty well. He had the look of a guy who’d seen some pretty terrible things and managed to persevere through all of them. 

Yu decided to follow after him up to the giant doors. Now was his chance to ask about this! “Hey, do you know what that cross and these doors are for?” Maybe they held clues about this whole situation! 

“Yeah.” Minato sighed and put his hand on one of the doors. “This is what’s known as The Great Seal.” He paused for a moment and looked at Yu’s confused face, then continued. “It’s supposed to keep Erebus at bay, but…” 

“It broke, huh?” Yu crossed his arms and nodded. “That’s not good.” He didn’t know what Erebus was, but it sounded bad. If this creature could only be held at bay by two giant doors and a cross, it had to be able to do something completely terrifying. 

He looked up at the cross and put his hand on it. “Why is there a cross? Is this the Seal, or is that what the doors are for?” He couldn’t figure it out just by looking at it. The whole thing just screamed “abstract art” to him, actually. 

“The cross holds the Seal, it’s not really the Seal itself.” Minato shrugged and coughed quietly. “Don’t worry about it right now… I think we have more important things to think about.” 

Yu frowned, but he remembered what Sho had said before he… disappeared? and nodded. “Alright, yeah, you’re right.” He had to calm down… This was no time to be getting distracted, anyway! Sure, there was a guy he didn’t know much about and a potentially evil thing named Erebus that is no longer sealed behind some huge doors, but there was also the case of the world ending and some creature named Hi-no-Kagutsuchi that wanted to kill everyone, so he figured it balanced out. 

He turned around and looked out over the still-empty rooftop and sighed. “I don’t know how this happened…” Or how he could fix it, for that matter. He wanted to get back to his friends and make sure everyone was okay, dammit, not just stand there…! 

Minato put his hand in his pocket and looked up at the creepy red moon, a small frown on his face. “Looks like we’ll just have to wait for a while, then.” He wasn’t entirely sure how long “a while” was, but he had a feeling waiting was the right thing. 

Yu sighed and shook his head. “...Alright. I guess, while we’re waiting, we could… learn more about each other?” He really wanted to figure out what it was that drew him to Minato. It had been bugging him for a little while now, actually. 

“Sure.” Minato shrugged, and Yu swore he had never seen a more confusing look on someone’s face before. Not only did he look disinterested, Minato looked equal parts perplexed, scared, sick, and curious. A very interesting young man indeed… 

Yu smiled a little bit and nodded. “Well, I guess if you haven’t disappeared, you’ve either been pulled into this against your will, or you have a Persona…” It didn’t exactly sound like a question, so he hoped Minato got the basic idea. 

“Yeah, I have a Persona.” He nodded and glanced over to Yu for just a moment. It was almost like he was judging him for something… Those cool, steely blue eyes seemed to bore right through to Yu’s soul. 

“Um…” Yu cleared his throat and looked away awkwardly. “Is there something on my face…?” He hoped not. He hadn’t eaten anything recently, and he was pretty sure Kanji would be the one getting Teddie snot all over him… 

Minato shook his head and finally turned his eyes away. “No, just getting a good look at you.” He shrugged and took a few steps forward. “We’re a lot alike, you know.” 

“Really?” Yu frowned. He hadn’t intended to sound so judgemental, but he really couldn’t see the resemblance. For one thing, Minato seemed like the kind of guy who didn’t want to associate himself with people if he could help it. 

“Yeah, really.” Minato glanced back and pushed his bangs out of his face. “Not personality wise, but in other ways.” He paused for a moment and took a deep, shaky breath, then let it out slowly. “I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, Narukami-kun.” 

Yu blinked a few times and tilted his head. “I know what you’re talking about…?” Did he really? “I don’t know about that, Arisato-san--” 

“Just… Minato is fine.” Minato held a hand up and shook his head, much to the surprise of Yu. This wasn’t the first time someone had asked to be called by their first name, but it was a little bit more shocking with Minato than it was with Akihiko. Something about his personality… 

Regardless, Yu nodded, cleared his throat, and continued. “Anyway… you’re sure I know what you’re talking about? We barely know each other, but I know we’re not… exactly the same type of person.”

“Thank god, too.” Minato snorted and shook his head. “I couldn’t handle another one of me.” Was he… trying to be funny? 

Despite himself, Yu chuckled at the comment. He didn’t want to be rude, but the way Minato said it made it too funny not to at least sort of laugh at. “Um, right. Well, Minato-san, would you mind telling me what we have in common?”

“You don’t know?” Minato finally turned around and rose an eyebrow questioningly at Yu. “Think. You probably feel some sort of connection to me even though we’ve never met, and you don’t know why.” 

Yu stopped for a moment. So Minato  _ did  _ feel that strange connection…!  _ But he’s right… I don’t know why I feel that way.  _

“What’s something only you can do with your Persona?” Minato asked, his arms now crossed. He didn’t look impatient, per se… more like he was trying to keep himself together. Maybe he would fall apart like a doll in a horror movie or something! 

_ No… that’s weird.  _ Yu shook his head and sighed. “Something only I can do…” 

He thought for a moment, his hand to his chin, then suddenly… “Oh! I can summon more than one Persona. But I thought that was something--” 

“Only someone with the power of the Wild Card could do? Yeah.” Minato nodded, and Yu swore he almost smiled. Almost. 

“...Wait.” He shook his head and looked at Minato incredulously. “You don’t mean to say you  _ also  _ have that power, do you?” Margaret hadn’t told him about that! Actually, Margaret didn’t tell him about much unless she thought he needed to know about it, so it was par for the course… probably. 

Minato just shrugged at him, as nonplussed as ever. “And if I told you I did? Would you believe me?” 

“I don’t know, actually.” Yu shook his head and bit his lip. Minato seemed trustworthy enough, but… How could he trust it if he didn’t see it in action? “...I’d have to ask for proof.” 

Minato nodded, and once again he nearly smiled. “Good answer. Maybe I’ll show you, if summoning a Persona doesn’t kill me.”  _ Again.  _ At least, he was pretty sure he’d been dead that whole time… 

Yu’s eyebrows furrowed together as he looked up, then he bit his lip and shook his head. “...I don’t think we have time to figure out if summoning a Persona will kill you or not, Minato-san…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...aaaaand cliffhanger  >:3c   
> Stay tuned for Chapter 3!


	3. Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're making progress! I'm actually writing stuff at a decent rate, and updating chapter fics! That never happens, as those of you who have been here for a while can attest. 
> 
> Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Or don't, you can scream at me either way. :D I encourage it.

There was a quiet moment between the two Wild Cards as Yu stared at something over Minato’s head and Minato cautiously turned his head to figure out what it was Yu was looking at. Before he could say, or do, anything, however, Yu had grabbed him by the arm and pulled him forward at a force he hadn’t expected. 

“Sorry, but… that thing was going to kill you!” Yu shook his head and reached for his sword at his side. This thing… he’d never seen anything like it. 

The more he stared, the more freaked out he got. There were two goat-like heads on either end of its jet black, dripping body. One head had horns that jutted out in front of it, and the other had horns that stretched behind. 

Its eyes-- _ their  _ eyes--were almost perfectly circular, and bright red. Below them were huge, gaping wide mouths with long, pointed teeth. The legs seemed to disappear into nothingness, and everything around it felt  _ wrong.  _

The creature was as massive as it was terrifying. Yu hadn’t heard it make noise yet, but he was pretty sure he didn’t want to anyway. 

“...What is this thing?” He asked quietly to Minato, who stood stoic beside him. He was both in awe of Minato’s complete lack of emotion and totally dumbfounded at the same time. “You don’t think this is…?”

“Erebus.” Minato’s voice was soft, softer than usual, as he glanced sideways to Yu. Though his face betrayed nothing, his eyes shone with uncertainty and a twinge of fear. He had never faced Erebus before. In fact, he hadn’t even  _ known  _ Erebus existed until he’d woken up. 

Yu felt himself shiver and he gripped the hilt of his sword a little tighter. “What can we do to stop it?” 

“We have to fight, Narukami-kun.” Minato shook his head and pushed some of his overgrown bangs behind his ear. He didn’t have a weapon, but as long as summoning didn’t kill him, he had a Persona. That would have to be enough. 

Yu wanted to argue, but he could see the determination in Minato’s eyes, so he just nodded. “I’ll follow your lead, Minato-san.” He felt like he could trust him as a leader. 

Minato nodded solemnly and took a deep breath.  _ If I could figure out its weak points…  _ There had to be some way of attacking it that would keep them from getting in the line of danger… or from getting killed. His biggest priority was to keep Yu from getting killed. 

Erebus swung one of its huge heads toward them and looked Minato directly in the eye. “You don’t scare me.” 

_ He’s cool…  _ Yu shook his head and smiled just a little bit. Man, Minato must have seen some shit to not be terrified in the face of… whatever this thing was. 

Minato looked back at Yu for just a moment and made a face. “...Do what you think is right, Narukami-kun. Just don’t get killed, and try to stay as close as you can.” He didn’t want to lose track of him. 

“Got it.” Yu nodded and carefully unsheathed his sword. He wished he knew where to even start attacking this thing… It definitely towered over him. There was no way to reach its body without getting swatted away by one of its legs or gored by horns… 

In the time he had spent thinking, he noticed Minato had taken a few steps back. He seemed to be preparing himself for something or other… Maybe a summoning? 

“Come, Messiah!” Minato’s soft voice turned hard for only a moment as he called out the name of his Persona. His eyes were closed, like he was using all of his energy and concentration on just calling Messiah for help.

There was a moment of pure silence, drowning out the grunts and snorts of Erebus, and even Yu’s own thoughts. Then, with little ceremony, there it was. Messiah was beautiful, if not incredibly sad to behold. His face, upturned and streaked with black tears, and his hand over his heart, reminded Yu a little bit of Minato in a way. 

“Megidolaon!” 

Yu barely managed to jump out of the way of the onslaught of huge, white orbs and shielded his eyes as a blinding light enveloped the area. Messiah was strong… Though, with power like that, he was pretty sure it would take a toll on Minato. 

He shook his head and steeled himself for the fight, then took a deep breath. “No more messing around, Yu!” He had to help somehow! So he grabbed his sword tightly in his right hand and, while Eerebus’s massive heads swung down close to the surface of the roof, took a swing at the nearest one. 

His hit landed, and the creature shrieked with a ferocity that rivaled anything Yu had heard before. It shook the tower, and forced both boys to cover their ears to hide from the brunt of it. Even then, the sound seemed to pierce right through them.

Yu wanted to scream, but before he could do anything, the shrieking was over. Erebus shook its injured head, flicking blood all over the roof, and snarled at them. 

“Good one, Narukami-kun.” Minato called from a short distance away, though Yu could hear the strain in his voice. He was getting tired already… that wasn’t good. They had to wrap this up quickly, or it wouldn’t end well. 

Yu smiled at him and wiped some of the sweat off his brow. “Okay… we’ve got this…” They just had to figure out how to get the other head to swing down so he could attack it. The creature was very primal in nature; there had to be a good way of distracting it. 

“Narukami-kun, move!” Minato, who Yu had thought was much farther away from him, suddenly shoved him to the side as Erebus’s uninjured head came down in an attempt to knock Yu down with its horns. 

Because of Minato’s intervention, Yu was left unscathed. The same, however, could not be said for Minato, as he now lay motionless on his side. 

“Minato-san!” Yu dodged another swing from Erebus’s head and knelt beside the blue haired boy. “Minato-san, are you alright?!” 

He didn’t have time to see if there was a response, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to get one. He would just have to protect Minato from there while fighting off Erebus. There wasn’t much else he  _ could  _ do. 

Erebus growled at him and swung its head once more, allowing for a well-timed swing to the eye. It shrieked again, but Yu didn’t have time to be stunned like he was the first time it happened. This head wasn’t as loud as the other one was, anyway. 

“Come, Izanagi!” 

The lightning god appeared behind him, sword at the ready. His masked face and glowing yellow eyes pierced the red-soaked darkness, and his battle ready stance contrasted Erebus’s sheltered one nicely. 

Yu barely opened his mouth before Izanagi moved to swiftly counter the oncoming attack from the creature in front of him. “Now, Izanagi! Raijinzan!” 

Izanagi lifted his sword, now crackling with electric energy, and brought it down hard on the body of the beast.

Erebus let out an ear piercing howl as the electricity coursed through its body, then collapsed with a loud thump moments later. Yu felt like it wasn’t dead yet, but for now… it was at least incapacitated, and that would have to do. 

He took a deep breath, dropped his sword, and turned around again to look at Minato. His eyes were still closed, and he hadn’t moved since he’d hit the tile of the roof. 

“Minato-san, are you alright?” His voice shook with undealt with nerves, and he clenched his hands tightly to make sure they didn’t shake too hard. His heart pounded in his chest, and with each beat, the realization crept up on him… 

Minato wouldn’t be waking up again. 


	4. Waking Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been too long since I've updated this fic, so here's chapter four!   
> I hope it's not terrible; only a few more chapters to go!

Yu sat, shell-shocked for a moment. He willed himself to do something; to cry, yell, get angry…  _ anything  _ other than just to sit there like a dumbass, staring at what seemed to be the dead body of someone he’d cared about. 

He knew it was silly; they’d only known each other a maximum of five minutes, but the connection he’d felt… that couldn’t have been faked. He had  _ definitely  _ felt the connection between them, and now he was  _ definitely  _ feeling the pain of loss. 

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Minato-san. You have to get up…” 

Erebus had taken the time Yu was lost in his grief to recover from the shock, and stood up shakily. Its entire body shook, and the electricity could still be seen coursing through its legs and torso. Its red eyes squinted against the pain, and one of its huge mouths hung open, completely slack. The other mouth had curled up into a snarl, and it focused its attention toward Yu. 

He did not notice, his attention completely focused on the dead man in front of him. He tried to force himself to stand, but his legs would not listen. He tried to force himself to say something, but his mouth would not open. He willed his eyes to close or look somewhere else, but they would not. 

He could not turn to see Erebus rear up; he could not listen to the cry it made. He barely felt the shaking of the tower as its massive hooves struck the roof with force great enough to break through the tile. 

For a moment, everything was quiet. It seemed as though the demon had given up on trying to get Yu’s attention for the moment. Perhaps it would attempt another murder, if it didn’t collapse from the still-surging electricity first. 

. Suddenly, as though his head was being pulled, Yu looked to the far end of the roof. Standing there in all blue was someone he’d met briefly in passing twice now: Elizabeth. She had her massive compendium in one hand, her short silver hair twisted up in a finger on her other, and a scowl that could kill. 

“I believe you’ve caused enough trouble today.” She walked nonchalantly toward the centre of the action, her expression softening slightly as she met Yu’s eyes. “Not only have you put everyone’s lives in danger, but you’ve killed him. Again.” 

Erebus let out another ear-piercing wail, as though it understood what Elizabeth was saying. It swung its heads wildly and reared up again; taller this time. Elizabeth stood quietly as it did this, flipping idly through the compendium. 

“Throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to make your life any easier, you know.” She giggled and shook her head as she pulled a single blue and silver card from between two pages. “Let’s make this quick.” 

She flipped the card around as she slammed her book shut and tucked it under one arm. “Come: Thanatos!” 

Yu closed his eyes against the sudden rush of wind surrounding Elizabeth as Thanatos materialized behind her; sword in his right hand, left hand hung down by his side. The chains connected to his shoulders rattled as the eight coffins shifted slightly into a shell around his back. 

“Megidola!” 

The end of Thanatos’s sword illuminated suddenly, and Elizabeth nodded. “Now, Brave Blade!” 

Yu gasped as both attacks collided with Erebus at the same time. There was a flash of white light, a pained screech from Erebus, and then… silence. 

Elizabeth opened her book again and Thanatos disappeared, then she closed it and closed her eyes for a moment. “...That’s one thing taken care of!” 

She turned on her heel and strode toward where Yu still sat and Minato lay. He swore he saw her bite her lip, but when he looked closer, he realized her expression hadn’t changed. In fact, she seemed to be more composed than ever.

“That damn creature.” She shook her head and clicked her tongue as she re-opened her book. “I ought to have killed it ten times over for what it did to Minato.” 

There was a short silence while Elizabeth flipped through the compendium and Yu watched her curiously. Then, after some time, she mumbled something he couldn’t understand; and the area was surrounded in a bright light. 

When the light dissipated, Elizabeth had disappeared. 

“What an odd woman…” Yu shook his head and closed his eyes.  Erebus was gone, and now the rooftop seemed eerily quiet again. If he really thought about it, something felt… different, but he couldn’t quite explain what it was. 

He was jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of two swords falling to the tile and footsteps quickly approaching him. Was that… Sho? 

“Who the hell is that?” Yu looked up at the question; and sure enough Sho was standing right there, shock clear on his face. “And what the fuck happened to you?! We were supposed to be fighting, and then you disappeared.”  

Yu blinked a few times and thought for a moment. That was right… he had just been about to fight with Sho when his scenery changed and he was by himself. Now he was back to… whatever normal version of this insanity was, and Minato had come with him.

When he looked down, he realized the older man was breathing now, and he felt a weight get lifted off his chest. All the tears he couldn’t seem to cry earlier finally flowed out silently, and he shook his head. 

“I’ll explain in a little bit.” 

Sho didn’t seem pleased with the answer, but he crossed his arms and sat down anyway. “You didn’t tell me who this guy was, though.”

“His name is Arisato Minato, and he showed up while I was… in that other place.” Yu wiped the tears away and shrugged lightly. “He was helping me.” 

“So… he’s dead then.” 

“I’m not dead.”

Sho let out what Yu could only describe as a scream and stumbled backward when Minato spoke. He had to admit it scared him too, but he’d already been scared by this once before. Minato had a knack for scaring the hell out of people, then… 

He moved backward a little bit so Minato could sit up, and he finally noticed just how frail he really was. He figured he could wrap his fingers around Minato’s entire arm if he grabbed in the right spot, and his collarbone was very clearly defined. 

“You look like shit.” Sho spoke up finally, having gotten over his little freakout by then. Of course, he didn’t have much tact, so he just said whatever came to mind… but, he was right. Minato looked pretty awful. 

“Thanks, so do you.” Minato coughed and looked Sho over once. He looked around the area and closed his eyes. “So she did it again…”

Yu nodded slowly, and Sho frowned. 

“Who did what? And why the hell are you here?!” He glared daggers at Minato, then at Yu, looking for an answer he was unlikely to get from either of them. That didn’t stop him from quietly demanding it, though. 

“Elizabeth killed Erebus again.” Minato shrugged and pushed himself off the ground. He stood shakily, but at the very least it didn’t look like he was going to fall over yet. 

Yet being the keyword.


	5. A Happy Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT IS DONE   
> Sorry the chapter is so short, and that it took me so long, but here it is!! I hope it's okay;;

Yu had expected Minato to collapse immediately to the ground after standing himself up, but that didn’t seem to be the case. In fact, he seemed to be doing pretty well despite his clearly exhausted face and shaky stature. 

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “So… now what? It seems like everything’s back to normal…” Or, as normal as things could get at a time like this. For all he knew, there could still be some other layer of bullshit just waiting to spring itself upon them. 

“Don’t look at me!” Sho huffed and crossed his arms. “ _ You’re  _ the asshole who set that whole mess off, so  _ you  _ tell  _ me _ !” 

“That’s enough.” Minato groaned and closed his eyes. “I don’t care if you two fight, but don’t do it while I’m in the middle of you. I died once already.” 

There was a short, awkward, silence after Minato made that statement. Sho just stared at him with his mouth slightly agape in disbelief while Yu turned his head away to contain his snickering at the reaction. It was, unsurprisingly, very teenage of both of them. 

Luckily, the awkward silence was cut short by the entrance of some of Yu’s companions. Really, it was the entrance of the door,  _ followed by _ the entrance of companions, but only half of those things was important to the situation. 

Standing where the door once stood was Labrys, Akihiko, and Yosuke. Judging by the looks on their faces, Yu guessed it was Akihiko who sent the door flying. 

“You know…” Yosuke started as he stared at the battered door, “we could’ve just… checked the door to see if it was locked before we punched it off?”

Akihiko shrugged. “I would’ve punched it off it was locked anyway, so does it really matter?” He shook his left fist out for a second, seemingly oblivious to the fact there was an unexpected third party on the roof. 

Labrys, however, had noticed from the moment she could see beyond the door. “Uh… guys? I think the door is the least of our worries.” 

“What do you me--” Yosuke frowned, then stopped short when he saw Minato standing between Yu and Sho. “Holy shit, who the hell is that?!” 

Hoping to get an answer, he elbowed Akihiko in the ribs a few times. Unfortunately, it appeared as though Akihiko had gone mostly unresponsive in his shock. 

“Akihiko-san…?” Labrys turned toward her companion, worry etched onto her face. “Are you okay…?” 

Labrys’s voice seemed to jerk Akihiko out of his stupor and he shook his head slowly, though his eyes never seemed to move from their fixation. “There’s… no way…” 

His voice was soft, though strained, as if he was fighting back tears before they even formed. For a brief moment, it seemed as though he was stuck in place, when suddenly he ran forward faster than he’d ever run before. 

Minato, who still had his eyes closed, was taken by surprise when he was suddenly lifted off the ground into a bear hug nearly strong enough to break his ribs. 

When he finally gathered himself again, he looked down in surprise. “Akihiko…?” 

“I thought I’d never see you again…” Tears ran down Akihiko’s cheeks faster than he could try to keep them back; not that he was going to try terribly hard to hold them back anyway… “I missed you so much…” 

Minato could feel his chest and throat constrict as tears pricked in the corners of his eyes. As soon as Akihiko set him down, he threw his arms around him and buried his face in his chest. “I missed you too…” 

Labrys smiled softly and crossed her arms as Sho rolled his eyes. “Aww, how sweet…” 

“I had no idea Akihiko-san had someone…” Yosuke blinked in surprise as Yu put an arm around his shoulder. “He kinda seemed like the lone wolf type…” 

Yu just shrugged. “It looks like he was just trying to get over the pain of losing the one he loved the most,” he pulled Yosuke a little bit closer to him and squeezed his shoulder, “I’m not surprised, really.” 

Labrys nodded and shot a glare to Sho as he made a face. “Me neither. I could tell somethin’ was up when we got here.” Of course, she had a much better chance of observing these things than a normal human would, and Yosuke wasn’t exactly the  _ most  _ perceptive… 

“It’s still gross.” Sho stuck his tongue out and shook his head. “Come on, staying attached to someone you thought was dead for so long? Talk about pathetic.” 

“Dude, seriously?” Yosuke groaned loudly and rolled his eyes, “Can’t you just keep your mouth shut for once? They’re not hurting anyone. And besides, it wouldn’t hurt to actually  _ try  _ to care about people for once!” 

Sho clicked his tongue and turned on his heel, one hand up in the air dismissively. They hadn’t noticed, but the town had gone back to normal. No more red fog, no warped school or stopped time… 

“Well, whatever.” The redhead scoffed, “You saved your stupid friends and your stupid town, so go celebrate or whatever you losers do with your time.” 

“Sho-kun, wait!” Labrys called out, but he had already left. “Dammit, an’ we coudla helped ‘im somehow…” 

She glanced over at Akihiko and Minato, who had sat down in that time and were catching up with each other. Though frustrated by the fact they’d lost sight of Sho, she smiled at the sweetness of the interaction in front of her. 

Yu and Yosuke followed her line of sight, and Yu smiled contentedly. 

“I’m sure we’ll find Sho-kun again, Labrys. For now, let’s just celebrate our small victories.” 

“You’re right, Yu-kun,” Labrys nodded. Even if they had to go searching for Sho for many more years to come, she was sure they’d be able to handle it. After all, she was sure they were chasing after his greatest wish.


End file.
